RALEIGH, N.C. — There was nothing unusual about seeing Frederik Andersen on the ice at PNC Arena on Wednesday morning for an entirely ordinary off-day practice. He’s been out there with his teammates since early December, working his way back from a knee injury.
What’s different is there are no questions about if and when he’ll play. Andersen is expected to make his third start since his return for the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, and his play in the first two games back — wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins, the latter a narrow 2-1 win with the only goal batted into his own net by Andersen himself in a blooper-reel gaffe — underlined one crucial point: It may take him a while to get himself ready to return, but he really does know what he’s doing.
“In terms of feeling, like, being ready, it really can be tough,” Andersen said Wednesday. “You never really know what you’re going to face in net in a real game. You’ll never know. It’s one of those things, you do what you can, you try to feel as good as you can in practice, and it’s sink or swim.”
